Think of the Hebrew Bible as one big crossword puzzle. If you get it right, you solve the meaning of life.

June 10, 2008

15. "Davar" (Part 1) - Always from "speech"; identical to "logos".

There are two good reasons to start the discussion about the critical Hebrew term "davar" immediately after the holiday of Shavuot.

The first is obvious. According to rabbinic tradition, this holiday commemorates the day when God gave the Ten Commandments. These commandments, in Hebrew, are called the ten "dvarim" (using the plural form for davar, as it appears in Deuteronomy 4:12 and Exodus 34:28). So each so-called "commandment" is really a single "davar".

The second reason continues last week's post about the Book of Ruth, due to a very interesting passage. Naomi, having received Ruth's report about her night-time encounter with her husband-to-be, says:

"Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the davar will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have concluded the davar this day." (Ruth 3:18)

What is the connection between the two? How does the judiciary settlement that Boaz has to reach with the competing kinsman (regarding the future of Ruth and of Naomi's inheritance) have to do with the ten "commandments"?

The answer is that the Hebrew term (דבר), which relates directly to the verb "to talk" -- or to PROCLAIM (לדבר) -- is equivalent to the Greek notion of 'logos', with its precise yet varied meanings: a formalized thought, account, report, word, speech, argument, story, etc.

In the two cases above, both in the ten commandments and in the judiciary case of Boaz, the biblical text is referring to a decree: to a conclusive "statement." It's about THE WORD coming out.

When God proclaims, in the so-called first commandment: "Iam the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt," he is not commanding any action, but rather making an authoritative pronouncement. Likewise, Naomi tells Ruth about the impending court of elders:

"Sit still, my daughter, until you know which way the pronouncement will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have concluded the pronouncement this day."

You may choose to replace "pronouncement" with "account" or anothe synonym. But the point remains that at the end of the day the talked-of issue reaches a conclusion, and that it has a wrapped-up "telling"of it. For a primarily oral-lore culture, a true davar is the formulated testament that can then be passed on.

In the next posts we will see how davar should ALWAYS be read as something to do with SPEECH (using varying nuances of "statement", "decree", "message", "tale/story" etc.), and NEVER as a "thing" (a sadly common misconception), and why the Greek Septuagint is perfectly correct in translating davar as logos. Many verses will, in this manner, gain bright new clarity.

Ethan

"Sit still, my daughter, until you know which way the logos will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have concluded the logos this day."